Sales Operation Services

The Perfect Sales Ops Manager

A quick search on the LinkedIn job board shows that today there are 40,106 open positions for the title “Sales Operations Manager” in the US. From early-stage startups to Fortune 50 companies, all are desperately searching to fill key positions on their respective Sales / Revenue Operations teams.

Over the last 20 years, ERP system like SAP and Oracle have shifted organizations toward more technology-based integrated systems linking finance, operations, and inventory functions.

Today, sales and marketing are in a technology renaissance with the rapid growth of sophisticated platforms linking customer, sales, and marketing data with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot and plethora of other SaaS solutions addressing every conceivable process a company needs to operate.

Will hiring an internal resource really help grow our business?

Can a new candidate grow and adapt quickly as the role to changes?

Does a candidate with all the skills the business needs even exist?

All Sales Operations Roles & Experiences Are Not the Same

The typical Sales Operations Manager role requires a person that is able to understand an entire company’s marketing & sales process in detail. They translate those processes into technical requirements to incorporate into digital solutions, like a CRM. They implement many changes and improvements by either managing another internal resource that has been assigned the task on top of their normal daily duties, or an outside consulting firm helping with the transition.

Generally, in addition to the change management they are doing, the “sales ops manager” is expected to continue to deliver some of the administrative work to maintain the current systems/processes.

The individual who can be successful in this role (even with a small team) is very rare, and is typically, very expensive to both recruit & retain.

Most companies struggle with:

How to properly adapt to the tidal wave of technology changes in CRM/Marketing automation.
How to get from today to a data nirvana where the dashboards and insights drive sales and top-line growth.
A new CRM has been implemented, internal staff are exhausted and a lot has been spent on the technology.

There are not Enough Qualified Resources to Fill the Need

As more and more companies have realized the need to build out their Sales Operations functions, the pool of qualified, available candidates has become smaller than ever.

The perfect Sales Ops Manager has skills & experience that are a mile wide and a mile deep.

Strategy

Sales Enablement

Sales & Operations

Sales Incentive / Compensation Planning

Territory Planning

Tactical

Managing Internal Resources / Third Party Consultants

Process Improvement

Reporting / Dashboards

Forecasting

Technical

Coding, Configs & System Improvements

Obtaining & Maintaining Appropriate Certifications

Implementing Digital Tools & Systems

Administrative

Password Resets (security)

Day to Day System Bug Fixes

Managing Data & System Integrations

Maintaining User Roles & Profiles

Three Options to Secure a Sales Operations Manager

Hire a Junior Candidate to Become a Sales Operations Manager

Train them to meet the company’s specific needs.
It will take a great deal of lot of time and effort.
There’s no guarantee this resource will ever perform to your level of need or expectation.
Should they gain the skills required, the demand for these resources is driving higher compensations and other employment opportunities, making the gains achieved temporary.

Be Willing to Pay a Premium to Hire a Proven Candidate

The candidate will generally need a variety of digital technology tools such as a CRM or other digital systems to support migrating your company bi-directionally developing an omnichannel approach developing and connecting new prospects, leads and clients.
The ideal candidate may initially primarily need to be both Tactical & Technical
The ideal candidate will need to include both Strategic and Administrative initiative.
Due to the nature of the role, consideration needs to be given to the reporting relationship of this resource and the need for them to be connected with the top levels of the organization.
The risk of this resourcing approach is that the person who provides the Strategic guidance will not want to do the Administrative work, thereby becoming unengaged, or worse yet, a flight risk.

Outsource a Sales Operations Manager from VALiNTRY360

Leverage resources from a consulting firm like VALiNTRY360 with access to multiple resources and skillsets that can provide Sales Operations Services on demand.
Your company can keep up to date with the ever-changing demands of business from Tactical & Technical to Strategic & Administrative approaches with the support of an external firm in one dynamic relationship like VALiNTRY360
An outside firm brings the experience of having worked in not only companies in the same industry, but also in a variety of other business/industries, with a proven history of performing at a high level.

The VALiNTRY360 “Sales Operations as a Service” Approach

VALiNTRY360 maintains highly qualified Sales Operations Managers on staff that are available for consulting projects.

VALiNTRY360 has developed the ability to scale up and down to match a company’s needs with custom managed service offerings.

VALiNTRY360 provides the depth of skill, and expertise to meet the demand the latest digital marketing business processes – while giving companies access to a breadth of experience in a wide array of specialties within the Sales Operations function.

Instead of paying for expensive projects on a time and materials basis, tracking hours and constantly second guessing whether you’re getting an ROI on your investment, a managed service contract will give you the confidence that your day-to-day work is getting done and that as your business changes, there is a team of resources behind you that can adapt with you.

A Partner Supporting the Sales Operations Transformation Journey.

The Perfect Sales Operations Manager